12-12/13 Hunt

SDroosty

New member
Hello all, i have gathered a group of high school buddies and the 7 of us will be doing a weekend hunt on Dec. 12th and 13th. I typically hunt SE SD just because thats where i call home, but in the past i have hated the DeSmet/Huron areas with varying levels of success. Love the small town hospitality, bars, restaurants, and new places to walk. We will be walking pretty much exclusively public ground and was wondering if anyone had recommendations at to which direction to head. Looking at either going to the Corsica/Platte area and staying south of 90, or up to DeSmet again and covering ground North and West from there. Also, the Altamont area kind of intrigues me as i have never been that far north and east and notice quite a bit of ground to walk. Any suggestions would be much appreciated as well as bar/breakfast/restaurant suggestions as we will be taking in as much in as we can in a couple days.

I have been able to make it out quite a bit, mainly South of Sioux Falls, and have noticed an increase in birds this year from the last few, but the public ground is limited and it gets hit pretty hard through the early and middle portions of the year.

Anyways, best of luck to all who are still on the chase and thank you for any insight!
 
Haha, proofreading would have been beneficial. I meant to say hunted not hated. I very much like that area actually.
 
I had 5 groups stay at my place in Platte between 10/20-11-21. I would say they did from good to excellent depending on experience and a few windy days. Some had a bit of a learning curve but finished well. I think all but one group was hunting PL and ROW's.
 
We have decided to hunt about a 40 mile radius around the DeSmet area. Glad the temps are going to cool off a bit. Don't know what to expect for bird numbers, but I do know it will be a good time. Ill check back with a report.
 
Well we made it back home late last night after a couple grind it out type of days. Started around Salem working our way north to DeSmet on Saturday and hunted hard all day. Only public land and had to sort through lots of spots that just didn't have adequate cover. Found about 3 nice fields, but still not many birds to be seen. The ones we did see were out the other end of the field before we were 100 yards in. December hunting, just hope a few hold. We got 4 of the 5 we had shots at, all of points, logged 10 miles. Sunday hunted north and west of Desmet and same deal. Quite a few places to sift through with thin cover. Was able to bag 5 of the 7 birds we had shots at, 9 miles logged. Our group of 6 had a blast and we knew with the weather/time of year it was going to be a grind, but well worth it no matter the amount of birds. I will say the bird numbers in that area seem to be down quite a bit, and saw more hunters during a December hunt than I have ever before. Great weather, got a little trigger time, and was able to have some great dog work in front of a good group of guys.

Best of luck the rest of the year.
 
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